Archive for the 'Sampling' Category

I am sorry to announce thatÂ BonBonBar will be closing down. I would like to thank each and every one of you for your support throughout this candy bar-making adventure. When I started up the company in 2007, I was rather terrified by how people might respond to my products and company, but I have been so grateful for how many people have taken BonBonBar to heart. It has been a pleasure to make candy for you.

In honor of your enthusiasm, I would like to end BonBonBar as it began â€” withÂ Malt Bars! We havenâ€™t offered them in over two years, and I know Iâ€™d like to taste one again. They feature a creamy malt ganache atop a crunchy shortbread and enrobed in dark chocolate.

In other news, my candymaking cookbook is out!Â Sweet Confections: Beautiful Candy to Make at Homefeatures my take on traditional candy recipes, such as toffee, marshmallows, peanut brittle, and a host of others. A limited number of signed copies are available on the BonBonBar website, and otherwise the cookbook is available on sites such asÂ Amazon andÂ Barnes & Noble as well as in bookstores in the US and Europe (where it’s called Making Sweets).

Again, thank you for four exciting years!

Also, this is the final post for this food blog. The archive of culinary school, restaurant, recipe, and candy business posts will remain available. Thank you for six exciting years!

Happy Holidays!Â Even though I have been quiet on the newsletter front, it has been busy at BonBonBar.

The most exciting news is that I have been hard at work writing a cookbook! It is called Beautiful Candymaking, and it is due out in the Fall of 2011 through Sterling Publishing.Â The book will feature my take on a wide range of candy recipes — from toffee to fudge to caramel corn — along with candymaking tips/techniques and gorgeous photography courtesy of The White on Rice Couple.

After developing so many recipes for the book, I thought that it would be a good idea to recharge and seek new inspiration for the company’s confections.Â So, BonBonBar will be closed from December 23 to February 1 as I eat my way around France, Italy, Brazil, and California.Â I am looking forward to returning with refreshed ideas for new products, but it most likely also means that, unfortunately, some candies will be rotated out in the new year.

As always, thank you so much for your support and enthusiasm.Â Happy customers have always been my favorite part of this BonBonBar adventure, and you have given me the amazing opportunity to run a truly artisan food company that will be going into its fourth year. I am grateful, and lucky.

All the best for a happy and sweet holiday season, and I hope that BonBonBar treats will be a part of it!

Probably one of the most common questions at my farmers markets is whether I have — or can possibly have! — caramel covered marshmallows.Â So, for Easter, I’m devising my own twist on them — BonBonBar‘s Vanilla Marshmallows wrapped in Salted Chocolate Nut Caramel (which contain roasted almonds, walnuts, pecans, and cocoa nibs).

I’m pretty in love with these… The simple combination of the good vanilla and good chocolate is so wonderful and rich, and these treats will also highlight that I recently started using my own housemade vanilla extract in my marshmallows (in addition to fresh organic beans, for reasons that deserve another–rather more eccentric–post).Â And the texture of chewy caramel, pillowy marshmallow, crispy nuts and, flaky Maldon salt is so unique and fun to eat.Â And most importantly to me, the sweetness of normal caramel wrapped marshmallows is cut back and made more complex by the magic of salt, chocolate, and nuts.

Though… I do need to figure out a good, brief-yet-descriptive name for them soon!

I’ll probably only keep them for the Easter holiday and special orders because it’s rather time consuming to make and package them.Â But intrepid customers in the future could always buy a bag of caramels and a package of marshmallows… and unwrap, flatten, wrap, and eat at will.

And actually, the variation of these that I’m looking forward to trying myself involves Scotch — I love drinking my Hot Chocolate laced with Single Malt Scotch and garnished with a Vanilla Marshmallow.Â So, a quick dunk in Scotch could be pretty amazing.Â I’m willing to find out…

Below is a special offer that I sent out to my mailing list, so I thought I’d pass it along to my blog readers, too…

March 19, 2009

Hello,

It seems like no matter where you turn, you hear more details about these tough times and see people you care about struggling.Â So, I thought BonBonBar could help you spread a little cheer to friends, family, and co-workers all across the country.Â I’m offering a 20% discount on all orders sent as gifts until March 25.Â Handmade Chocolate Candy Bars,Â Caramels,Â Marshmallows, & Hot Chocolate Mix!Â Accompanied by kind words… or funny words!Â Such a surprise might not fix the world in a snap, but it certainly does perk it up.

Coupon code: candycomfort

*All orders must be accompanied by a gift message.Â The only limit to the coupon is time — you may order as many gifts as you would like until March 25… yes, even gifts to yourself!Â Shipping is excluded.

Thank you so much!
Nina

MORE BONBONBAR NEWS

Our Vanilla Marshmallows will now be made exclusively with housemade Vanilla Extract as well as Organic Vanilla Beans.

And hot weather is on its way!Â Some locations are already above 74F, and last year, April 15 marked the beginning of hot weather packaging across the country. Unfortunately, this year, I will have to include a surcharge for the insulation and gel paks due to increased costs, so you may want to order to order soon.

The Peanut Butter Candy Bar is finally ready! It may well be the ultimate candy bar. Each of its five dark chocolate compartments contains a Peanut Butter filling matched with a favorite topping. The outer two compartments contain handmade Strawberry Jam, the inner two contain Caramel, and the middle contains Wildflower Honey.

Our Organic Valencia Peanuts are from New Mexico. From the Santa Monica Farmers Market, we use Bill’s Bees Wildflower Honey as well as Organic Strawberries and Lemons to make our own jam.

The Peanut Butter Bar is a delicious treat for peanut butter lovers everywhere!

In other news, the Cherry Candy Bar will be available indefinitely, thanks to positive customer response. It has a Vanilla Almond Nougat enrobed in Dark Chocolate and topped with Organic Cherries.

BonBonBar’s array of products has never been more exciting — we now offer 6 Candy Bars, 5 Chewy Caramels, 2 Marshmallows, and Hot ChocolateMix as well as a variety of gift options at www.bonbonbar.com!